Lezhin Entertainment CEO Lee Sung-eob, left, holds an agreement with Kidari Studio head Kim Young-hoon. The two Seoul-based content powerhouses agreed to cooperate in their global marketing. Photo courtesy of Lezhin Entertainment

Two Seoul-based firms strive for win-win alliance

A pair of Seoul-based contents companies joined their hands to tap into the global market at a time when enterprises try to find new revenue sources amid the virus crisis.

Lezhin Entertainment said June 4 that the popular South Korean webtoon portal had teamed up with Kidari Studio, an online content company affiliated with Daou Kiwoom Group.

Under the two-way business alliance, Lezhin Entertainment will make their titles available exclusive to Delitoon, a unit of Kidari Studio, for distribution in French.

In return, Kidari Studio will reciprocate with their English-language contents.

Kidari Studio made a foray into the webtoon market in 2016 to instantly become the biggest production studio here with more than 70 new titles a year.

While acquiring such players as Bomtoon in 2017 and Delitoon two years later, Kidari Studio has come up with such representative works as “Doctor Elise: The Royal Lady with the Lamp” and “Light and Shadow.”

Lezhin Comics is the world’s first premium webtoon platform, which offers a variety of content for English and Japanese audiences.

Currently, the outfit has over 400 titles published in English, gaining big popularity in such countries as France, Italy, and Spain.

Lezhin Comics is a webtoon portal, which Lezhin Entertainment opened in 2013. Its content is available through www.lezhin.com.

Watchers point out that Lezhin's cooperation will help improve the global popularity of Korean webtoons.

"Over the past several years, Korean wetboons have gained popularity across the globe thanks to the brisk efforts of cartoonists and various platforms," an industry source said.

"Their collaboration is expected to keep its global popularity intact down the road. In particular, webtoon business would have a chance to chalk up fast growths amid the virus threat as people opt to stay home."
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